Jack & Jill Politics

Let them all pass all their dirty remarks (One love)
There is one question I’d really love to ask (One heart)
Is there a place for the hopeless sinner
Who has hurt all mankind just to save his own?
Believe me

One love, one heart
Let’s get together and feel all right

– Bob Marley

Yes, cue the classic reggae. Starting with the State of the Union, President Obama has shifted gears into a full on love fest with GOP leaders. Hey I ain’t mad at him. We’ve always known that Barack was more of a lover than a fighter. Less interested in black vs white or red vs blue than in the greyish purple zone that most American grownups live in. It’s kinda what we love about him — even as it drives people at each political extreme plum loco. Pun intended.

He’s working’ that Bob Marley Mahalo Mojo on ’em. My guess is that they will be powerless to resist that island-born lovin’.

From his SOTU 2011 re: Tucson given in a new Republican-led House where Democrats and GOPers sat together for the first time:

What comes of this moment is up to us. What comes of this moment will be determined not by whether we can sit together tonight, but whether we can work together tomorrow. (Applause.)

I believe we can. And I believe we must. That’s what the people who sent us here expect of us. With their votes, they’ve determined that governing will now be a shared responsibility between parties. New laws will only pass with support from Democrats and Republicans. We will move forward together, or not at all — for the challenges we face are bigger than party, and bigger than politics.

His Chamber of Commerce speech on Monday had much the same theme. The Chamber is literally across the street from the White House. It’s a hot nest of conservatives over there who, despite benefitting quite a bit from the Wall Street bailout and Recovery Act, have sometimes had some “dirty remarks” about America’s first Afro-Leninist black president. “Tom” refers to Thomas Donohue, President of the Chamber & leading conservative:

Now, Tom, it is good to be here today at the Chamber of Commerce. I’m here in the interest of being more neighborly. (Laughter.) I strolled over from across the street, and look, maybe if we had brought over a fruitcake when I first moved in, we would have gotten off to a better start. (Laughter.) But I’m going to make up for it. […]

Now, on some issues, like the Recovery Act, we’ve found common cause. On other issues, we’ve had some pretty strong disagreements. But I’m here today because I am convinced, as Tom mentioned in his introduction, that we can and we must work together. Whatever differences we may have, I know that all of us share a deep, abiding belief in this country, a belief in our people, a belief in the principles that have made America’s economy the envy of the world.

Then there was the Super Bowl sitdown with leading Repub Bill “Racist” O’Reilly who’s always had a mancrush on Obama.

And today, the Prez has invited a few other sinners with dirty remarks over for lunch (from USA Today):

Following up on an unpublicized White House lunch last Friday with Senate Republican leader Mitch McConnell, Obama and Vice President Biden sit down to lunch in his private dining room with House Speaker John Boehner, Majority Leader Eric Cantor and Majority Whip Kevin McCarthy.

[…]

The three Republicans, no doubt, will be more forthcoming after the lunch than McConnell was last week (after a lunch the White House didn’t even put on Obama’s public schedule).

“They had a nice lunch,” says McConnell spokesman Don Stewart. “There was no readout.”

Right…these are the same guys who want to gut the healthcare bill and discredit Obama so bad that he’s in McConnell’s words during the election “a one-term president”. Obama’s One Love campaign is set to turn the tables. He’s got nothing to lose (except an upset stomach) gettin’ cozy with Republicans. It’s what Americans want, after all. You know the sayin’: God don’t like ugly. Neither does the American people.

It’s a wise move that achieves 2 things: 1) perhaps Obama and House Republicans really can find common ground that actually benefits us regular folk. Like Gov, Rick Perry’s (R-TX) $10,000 college concept in Texas – I love it! 2) Obama’s public charm offensive can stand in ever starker contrast with the haters on the GOP side. Their bitter and often inaccurate rhetoric — their “dirty remarks” will ultimately turn off voters, especially independents, who will be inspired by Obama’s “win the future” (FTW!) mantra.

We’ve got some serious problems in this country. Our educational system is in the toilet, our roads and bridges are broke down, people ain’t got no jobs, people’s homes are underwater, etc, etc, etc. I, for one, would be excited to find some ways where we can come together as a nation to benefit all our lives. Go on, Obama — get your Bob Marley on… Marley may share a birthday with Ronald Reagan, but I think we could use Marley’s approach more than Reagan’s right about now.